


Devuélvete

by Tenillypo



Category: Terminator (Movies)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/F, Grace Harper Lives, Lesbian Character of Color, Mutual Pining, Porn with Feelings, Post-Terminator: Dark Fate, Slow Burn, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:54:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28121964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenillypo/pseuds/Tenillypo
Summary: "This is what you sent me here to do," Grace tells her.But Dani knows that can't be true.
Relationships: Grace Harper/Dani Ramos, Sarah Connor & Dani Ramos, Sarah Connor & Grace Harper
Comments: 26
Kudos: 129
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Devuélvete

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wildgoosery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildgoosery/gifts).



### aftermath

"This is what you sent me here to do," Grace tells her, smiling beatifically. There's a hole in her guts, and Dani's about to reach inside and rip some of them out, and Grace is _smiling_. "We both knew I wasn't coming back."

But Dani knows that can't be true. 

* * *

"I won't let her die for me again," Dani tells Sarah. 

It's more than a promise: it's a vow. She can't save her brother or her father, but here and now, Grace is alive with a whole future stretching out before her that doesn't have to be known.

"Then you need to be ready," Sarah says, like she understands exactly what Grace is thinking. Possibly she's the only person in the world who truly could.

That's how it starts.

Sarah turns out to be a good teacher. She drinks too much and her idea of motivation is often cutting sarcasm and a slap upside the head. But her instructions are clear and her corrections are always useful. 

After taking part in Sarah's boot camp for a week, Dani feels sore in muscles she didn't know she even had. After a month, she feels stronger and more in control than she's even felt. And six months in, she can run miles without flagging, field strip all their weapons in record time and reliably hit a moving target with all of them.

"How did you learn all this stuff?" Dani asks her one night early on as she sits by the fire, icing sore muscles. They've gone to ground in a cabin in the woods, some long abandoned safe house owned by one of Sarah's old comrades in arms.

Sarah grins wryly, and takes a swig of whiskey. "You can get away with a lot when you're young and blonde and desperate. Plus, I was pregnant. Guys like that, they all want to believe they're the big hero, saving the little lady."

Dani wrinkles her nose. "So, what, you just bat your eyelashes and say, teach me five ways to kill a man?"

"No," Sarah says, like Dani is particularly slow. "You bat your eyelashes and say, 'my boyfriend beats me and he's going to kill my baby. Won't you please teach me how to shoot.'" She shrugs. "Then later, when you need more specialized knowledge, you say, 'of course I believe in your glorious revolution. Show me how to make a better pipe bomb and I'll join up.' You lie, Dani. You say whatever you need to say, do whatever you need to do. Flirt, fuck, break the law ten ways from Sunday. "

"I guess I've never been good at that," Dani says, staring into the fire.

"Lying?"

"Flirting. Never had much practice, I guess." 

Sarah snorts. "Looking like that, you won't have to try very hard. Men aren't that complicated, trust me."

Dani feels her face heat. "That's just it. I've never much been interested. You know… in men." It feels strange to say out loud, something she'd never told anyone—not even Diego, although she was sure he had suspected.

It wasn't like she was ashamed. It just hadn't seemed relevant. She'd gone down to the bars in Zona Rosa a couple times and it was fun enough. She'd even gone home with a woman once. That was fun too—but they both knew it was one night only. Between work at the plant, taking care of her father's medical bills, looking out for Diego, all the day to day drudgery of just managing to scrape by, there just wasn't room in Dani's life for anything else.

She always thought she'd have more time for that stuff once they got to the states. Once her father was healthy. Once Diego was settled. Then it would be Dani's time to live for herself. Except now they're dead and she's got to live for all of humanity.

Sarah just raises an eyebrow. "Well, that's not my area of expertise. But the principle is the same, I imagine." She holds out her whiskey bottle, and after a moment of confusion, Dani clinks her beer against it. "Hey, maybe if we save the future, you can find a nice girl and get some practice."

She flushes. There'd been a moment that day in the backyard at Carl's when Grace had looked at her with such desperate intensity and Dani thought maybe, just maybe if they survived all this, there could be a chance—

But that Grace was dead. And if their plan works, the young Grace she saw at that playground will grow up to be a very different woman, one who won't have gun calluses on her hands, won't have to mutilate her body just to survive, won't have to swear her life to Dani's. 

Will likely never know Dani at all. 

She takes another sip of her beer. No, saving Grace from that fate, saving them all, would have to be enough. There wasn't any other choice.

* * *

In between grueling sessions of apocalypse boot camp, they hunt for Legion. 

Of course, there's nothing public about a hyper advanced cyberwarfare system. But even Sarah's network of conspiracy theorists and anti-government militias don't have anything like it on their radar. 

"These defense department assholes know how to bury their tracks," Sarah says grimly when another lead turns out to be a bust.

"So we keep looking," Dani replies, and picks up a gun to clean.

They're just outside of Toledo when a text notification chirps from Sarah's chip bag. She and Dani exchange a look. There are very few people with that number.

The message is from Major Dean. After barely surviving his run in with the Rev-9, he'd proven a motivated ally. But until now, his leads had also run dry. 

Sarah pulls out her phone. The text is only a string of coordinates. Dani quickly looks them up, and feels her heart begin to speed up—it's the Air Force base at Cheyenne Mountain. 

"Son of a bitch," Sarah mutters. "NORAD. It's been sitting under our noses this entire time."

Dani grins. "Guess we're going to Colorado."

* * *

In the end, it's not enough.

Legion goes rogue on the 23rd of September, 2021. Sarah and Dani are hunkered down in Colorado Springs, making and rejecting plans to infiltrate the mountain, when the power dies. 

Sarah flicks back the curtain in their motel room. The entire building looks dark, and the street beyond. Dani's stomach drops. 

"This is it," she says, surprising herself with how calm her voice sounds.

Sarah takes her phone out of the chip bag and presses the button. No signal. 

"Well, shit," she says with feeling. "I guess I get to experience the apocalypse after all."

* * *

Sarah gets cut in a scuffle with some scavengers about a year in. Nothing serious, nothing that hasn't happened a dozen times before. But one of them manages to cut her arm—just a shallow scratch. Within a week, infection sets it. Antibiotics are scarce. 

In the end, all Dani can do is hold her hand and watch.

"Better luck next time, kid," Sarah says as she's dying, and Dani wonders if this is how it happened the first time. Wonders how many other times they've gone round this loop, thinking this was the one that would change things.

After, she closes Sarah's eyes and buries her in the woods. No marker. No one will be coming back here.

"It won't be in vain," she promises Sarah's grave. "None of it will."

Then she sets off to start a revolution.

### take two

Dani leaves the motel room for more ice and a minute later, Grace wakes up and she and Sarah are at each other's throats. 

"So you're here to protect her," Sarah sneers at Grace when Dani finally gets back into the room. "What are you? Never seen one like you before. Almost human."

"I _am_ human," Grace answers, sounding mildly offended. "Just enhanced. You know, increased speed and strength, thorium micro-reactor." She looks Sarah up and down. "And you're Sarah Connor." 

Dani's head whips around in surprise. It hadn't seemed like they knew each other when Sarah appeared on the bridge like an avenging angel, but Grace looks certain now. 

Sarah scowls at them even harder. "Something tells me you didn't hear that name on America's Most Wanted."

Grace shakes her head. "I was told you'd find us. There weren't any pictures, but the description was… memorable."

Sarah folds her arms. "Let me guess: crotchety old bitch."

"Crotchety old bitch, hell on wheels in a fight, and the best ally you could ask for."

"Uh-huh." Sarah looks, if anything, even more dubious. Dani knows the feeling. "And when are you from?"

"2042," Grace says, as matter of factly as if she was telling you today was Tuesday.

"Right," Sarah drawls. "And who do I know back in 2042 who could paint such a vivid picture?"

Grace pauses, cutting her eyes over to Dani. "A very good friend that you haven't met yet," she finally answers.

"Convenient."

"But true."

"Okay, okay, time out," Dani says, jumping in between them. She points at Grace. "You might know everything about her, but I don't, so someone please explain what is going on." She turns to Sarah. "How did you know to find us on that bridge?"

"That's a long story."

"And one we can hear on the road," Grace says, picking up the bag of stolen meds. 

"The road?" Dani protests. She hadn't even showered yet. "We just got here."

"Gotta keep moving. It won't be far behind."

"But—" Dani says, and Grace turns to face her, taking hold of her arms. 

"Dani, I promise I'll tell you everything," she says, the look in her eyes strangely pleading, "but right now all you need to know is there's an AI in the future called Legion. Humans built it and then it turned on us. It wants you dead, and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe." She flicks her gaze to Sarah, who's watching them with a strange look on her face. "And so will she, even if she doesn't know it yet."

"But why me?" Dani says, sounding plaintive and young, even to her own ears. To her horror, she feels tears threatening to gather. "It killed so many people to get to me. For what?"

Grace hesitates. "Because of who you'll become."

Dani shakes her head. Nothing about that makes any sense.

"Legion?" Sarah says. "But—"

"I know." Grace cuts her off. "You changed the future, but people are still the same. They built something else."

Sarah swears. "Those assholes never learn."

"Dani," Grace says, turning back to her. Dani feels like a part of her is floating away. "Dani! Hey, stay with me." Dani snaps back into her body, focuses on Grace's startling blue eyes. "We have to go now. That thing is a Rev-9. That means it won't take long to recover. I have a weapon that will kill it, but we need to get someplace safe to retrieve it."

"Now that is the first thing you've said that I like," Sarah says. "What kind of weapon?" 

Grace says nothing, still watching Dani intently. 

"Fine," Dani says. "Where?"

Grace lifts her shirt. There are two lines of numbers tattooed across her stomach—coordinates, Dani realizes after a moment. She and Sarah exchange a baffled look. 

"Here." Grace taps the top set of numbers. "Texas. I was told to go there for help."

"Let me guess. My friend from the future told you that too?" Sarah says. Grace merely nods. "And this one?" Sarah points at the second set.

"That?" Grace smiles. It's too predatory to be a particularly nice smile, but Dani finds she likes it. "That Is where the Legion's brain lives, in the here and now."

Sarah whistles softly. "God damn."

"Exactly. Which is why we have to move. If we can lose Rev-9—"

"Then we can destroy Legion," Dani finishes slowly. "Before it ends the world."

* * *

"But won't that create a paradox?" Dani wonders that night. They're riding the train to the border, and the air is cool and the stars are bright. All around them, there are murmured voices, but this conversation still feels quiet and intimate. "If we only destroy Legion because you came back to tell us how, but then Legion never exists, so you don't come back to tell us—"

Sarah shakes her head. "Doesn't work like that. Trust me. I know."

She'd explained how she stopped her own apocalypse, only to lose her son anyway. Dani's still trying to wrap her head around the fact that the world was supposed to end in 1997, a year before she was even born. That if not for Sarah, she probably wouldn't have been. And now, Sarah tells her she's supposed to give birth to some new savior of the world. 

None of it would seem like it could be real, except she'd seen the thing that was chasing them—the Rev-9, as Grace called it. So she guesses it must be true: Dani Ramos, the tomboy who'd never been interested in men, never thought about kids, was supposed to be the mother of humanity's last hope.

Maybe, she thinks a little crazily, it would be a virgin birth. Maybe this was God's idea of a joke. Or a punishment. 

"I don't understand all the theory," Grace says, blissfully unaware of Dani's inner turmoil. "But I know we're not really changing the past. We're just… creating new timelines."

"Sounds nuts to me," Dani says. She stifles a yawn, suddenly feeling every second of the day's madness catching up with her. "Do you think there's ever going to be a timeline where we don't create killer robots that destroy the future?" 

Sarah snorts. "I used to think so. Now I know better. Humanity will insist on killing itself no matter what we do."

"You don't believe that," Grace says. "Otherwise why would you be here?"

"I told you. I _was_ her." Sarah lays down with her head on her pack and closes her eyes. "Besides, I've got nowhere else to be."

"So that's my future, I guess," Dani murmurs after a moment, gesturing at Sarah. Bitter, alone. Mourning everyone she's ever loved. No hope for the future.

Grace shakes her head. "No," she says. "I promise, it's not." She holds Dani's gaze for a long moment and then pats her lap, "Come on, time to get some rest. I'm more comfortable than that bag."

"What about you?"

"I don't need much sleep. Remember?" She gestures at herself. "Enhanced."

Dani hesitates, but it's been a long day and it does look more comfortable. She lays her head down on Grace's lap, and it feels both strangely intimate and perfectly right. How can she feel so safe with someone she's only known for a day? But when Grace tells her she'd die to protect her, some part of her deep inside knows that it's true.

She falls asleep lulled by the motion of the train and the soft touch of a hand stroking her hair. She doesn't dream. 

* * *

After watching a machine that looks like her father try to kill her—after seeing what Grace can do and hearing Sarah's story, after sitting down for a beer with a machine who taught himself to value human life—Dani really thought she'd lost the capacity for surprise.

That was before Grace explains she has two miniature nuclear reactors embedded in her body, and Carl is going to perform surgery on his kitchen table to get the extra one out.

"It works like an EMP," she says, as if that helps Dani understand anything. "Get it close enough, and it'll fry his neural net."

"But why is it in your _body_?" Dani asks. 

"Only organic matter can go back through time. No clothes, no weapons."

Carl and Sarah merely nod like everything she just said makes perfect sense. 

"I will go retrieve the necessary tools," he says, and leaves the room.

Carl was a whole other thing to take in. Dani had barely been able to accept that time travel and killer robots existed, and now she has to make room in her understanding of the world for a killer robot that could grow old, find a wife and an adopted son who love him, and who he seems to care about in return. She wonders if the thing that'safter her will also eventually find a family and learn to regret its actions.

Then she remembers the creepy exoskeleton detaching from its body, the relentless way they both stalked her. The way it killed Diego, pretended to be her murdered father. She imagines sitting down for a beer with it in twenty years and shudders.

"Hey," Grace says, touching her arm. "Are you okay?"

Dani returns to the present. "I'm fine, just—" she pauses, rewinding the conversation. "Wait, no clothes? So you just, what, showed up on a street somewhere buck naked?" The miles of bare skin that would make up a naked Grace pop into her head with startling clarity. She blinks, feeling slightly hysterical. "You're lucky you didn't get arrested."

Grace smirks. "Oh, luck had nothing to do with it."

Dani swallows, mouth suddenly dry. "Right." She looks away, searching for a distraction. "So what happens next?"

"What do you mean?"

"We get your reactor, set up the killbox or whatever, and take this thing out. And then what? Legion will still be out there. Won't they just send another, the same as they did for Sarah's son?" She shoots Sarah an apologetic look, but she's focused solely on glaring at Carl, who's returned with what looks like a full complement of surgical tools and an actual goddamn IV pole.

Grace raises an eyebrow at him. "You're certainly prepared."

"I believe in the Boy Scout motto," Carl says evenly, laying out his tools on the dining room table. "And Dani is correct. If Legion is like Skynet, it will continue to send hunters until the threat has been eliminated."

Dani nods. "And it might have sent those others already, so there's nothing we can do to stop that."

"Also correct." He looks up. "You will never be truly safe."

The words should terrify her, but somehow they don't. Maybe she's already gotten so used to the feeling of terror that she's grown numb to it. "But if we destroy Legion, then it won't matter. Because the future will survive without my—my son, or whatever."

Grace shakes her head. "No," she says fiercely. "That's not—it _matters_ , Dani. No matter what happens, you matter. To me." 

Dani's stares at Grace. Her cheeks feel very warm all of a sudden. 

"How long do we have?" Sarah asks, breaking the moment. "Until Judgment Day." 

Dani frowns. "Judgment Day?"

"The end of the world."

"A year and a half," Graces says, and they all stop to stare at her.

"Jesus," Dani whispers.

Even Sarah looks pale. "If it's that close…" 

"Legion is already nearly complete," Carl finishes. "I estimate the chances of being able to destroy both the physical components and all backups of the data with our current resources to be extremely small."

"My commander thought so too," Grace says. "That's why we have a different plan. We're not going to destroy Legion. We're going to infect it."

"Infect it? What, like a computer virus?" Dani turns to Carl. "Would that even work?"

Carl doesn't look thoughtful, because his expression never truly changes. But there's somehow still an air of thoughtfulness about him. "It would need to be a very sophisticated program."

Grace nods. "It would, yes." She raises an eyebrow. "Like a machine that taught itself free will, and then used it to care for a family of humans?"

"Oh, no." Sarah scowls, arms folded. "Are you seriously suggesting we rest the future of the world on one murderous machine teaching another to play nice?"

"I'm suggesting that we need to break the pattern. Humanity creates an AI, the AI turns on humanity. You said it yourself. Even if we could destroy Legion completely, what's to stop people from building another one down the road?"

"But if we change Legion," Dani says. "Teach it that humanity isn't the enemy—" She feels a flutter of hope for the first time since this nightmare began. Was it only a few days ago that her biggest worries had been normal things like bills and money and her father's health?

"Then maybe we have a fighting chance," Grace agrees.

"This plan has a much higher probability of success," Carl tells them.

Sarah angrily pushes back from the table. "I don't believe this." 

"Sarah—" Dani calls, but Sarah ignores her and walks out the door. Dani stands to go after her, but Carl shakes his head.

"Give her time." 

* * *

Grace wants to be awake for the surgery.

"I can help guide you," she says, and Carl nods and starts hooking her up to the IV.

Dani volunteered to assist him, but now she's just hovering, feeling useless. "I've never done anything like this before," she says, and inwardly cringes at the nervousness in her voice.

Grace has a small smile on her face, like Dani's said something funny. "Then I'm honored to be your first."

Dani feels herself flush again, and it's foolish, so foolish. Grace doesn't mean anything by it, and this is the worst possible time for Dani to indulge in a crush. So what if a six foot tall Amazon from the future is sworn to protect her with her life? That's no reason for her heart to start racing every time she looks at her. Even if she does look at her like _that_. 

She focuses on the tools Carl is laying out. Tools, she can deal with. Tools, she understands. A body is like an engine, after all. You just have to do things in the correct order when you're taking it apart so that you can put it back together again.

"Bend over," he tells Grace, then injects something into her spine.

Grace hisses. "That won't last long," she warns him. "I metabolize more quickly than ordinary humans." 

He pauses. "How much faster?"

"At least five times."

He considers for a moment and then readies another injection.

After about 10 minutes, Grace says she's lost feeling in her abdomen. Carl picks up a sharp looking scalpel as Grace casually lifts up the bottom of her tank top, folding it so it's just covering her breasts, exposing a long runway of pale skin and toned stomach muscles.

Dani coughs and looks away, then forces herself to look back. She just has to get it together, and stop acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. "Don't you need more light?" she asks Carl. 

He shakes his head. "My eyes are better than yours." 

Right. Of course they are.

"It's here," Grace says, patting her side, where Dani can see the skin protruding just the tiniest bit, now that she looks closely. "There are two, but removing the other one will kill me. This one isn't plugged into my body."

Carl focuses intensely, like he can actually see inside of Grace. "I see it," he says, and _shit_ , Dani thinks. Maybe he really could. "I will begin now. Hold still."

The incision he makes is neat and steady, no hesitation. Dani supposes it must be nice to be a machine. She swabs where he tells her, and hands him the tools he asks for. Blood's never bothered her, not since that time when they were kids and Diego ripped his leg open wiping out on his bike. She hadn't been sure if this would prove too much, but it's easy to focus on doing what needs to be done, knowing what's on the line.

When she glances up, Grace is watching her, a soft look on her face that Dani doesn't know how to interpret.

* * *

Sarah comes back as Carl finishes laying a set of neat sutures across Grace's abdomen, the small cylinder Grace claims is a powerful min-reactor sitting on a tea towel next to them. For a machine built for violence and war, he does surprisingly delicate work. She wonders if that's yet another thing he taught himself, or if Skynet built it into his programming for some unknown reason.

At Sarah's entrance, they all turn their heads. But she only glances at the reactor, then up at Dani. "This is how you want to play it?"

Dani startles. Of everyone in the room, she's perhaps the least qualified to make this decision. "I think it's our only option," she says after an awkward pause. "We can't stop it from being built. And even if we did, Grace is right. Someone would just build another one."

Sarah holds her gaze for a long, searching moment, then nods. "All right. If we're doing this, then we have to do it smart," she says finally, and Dani lets out a breath of relief. "We'll only get one shot."

"The military facility at Cheyenne Mountain is extremely well fortified," Carl says. "The Skynet central core was also located there. It will not be easy to infiltrate."

Sarah looks thoughtful. "I may know a guy."

* * *

Sarah's 'guy' turns out to be a stern Air Force Major. Their meeting with him goes to hell almost immediately, with the Major shot and the rest of them fleeing for their lives. Before Dani can blink, they're on a plane that's falling out of the sky, then underwater in a busted humvee, then fighting for their lives in an exploding power plant.

And in the middle of it all, Grace breaks the news that Dani isn't the mother of the savior of the future. She _is_ the savior. 

Maybe the Dani of a few days ago would have freaked out about that. But this Dani—the one who lost her family and her whole way of life, who Sarah looks at with respect, who Grace says _matters_ in a tone that Dani now thinks she understands? 

This Dani feels the truth settle onto her shoulders with a new purpose. 

In the end, it takes all four of them: Sarah to blast the Rev-9 enough times for Grace to wrap it in chains, Carl to hold it down, and Dani—scared shitless, twenty-two year old savior of the future—to stab Grace's extra power source straight into that metal fucker's head.

"Get back!" Carl yells as the Rev-9's body begins to convulse. 

Dani grabs Grace's arm and hauls her backward in a stumbling lurch. Wild arcs of electricity are shooting off the Rev-9, but it's still alive—still clawing and struggling against Carl's hold, even as the flesh of his remaining arm begins to smoke and burn.

"Carl!" Dani shouts in alarm, but he stubbornly holds on until the last possible moment, finally rolling away just as the remains of the Rev-9's body are engulfed in blue flame. 

The small lightning storm surrounding the Rev-9's body flares brighter and brighter until it hurts to look at it. Dani turns her face away, then finds herself pushed roughly back against the wall with Grace bent over her, one hand curved protectively around the back of her head. Dani closes her eyes and wraps her arms around Grace's waist. If this doesn't work, then at least they'll go out together.

The low crackling sounds grow more intense, and then the bubble of light explodes in a shock wave Dani can feel even with her eyes closed. 

In the resulting silence, the smokey air feels charged and alive. When she peeks around Grace's body, the charred remains of the Rev-9 are melted into the floor. All of them freeze for a long moment, waiting for it to spring back to monstrous life one last time like the killer at the end of a horror movie. But it stays silent and inert.

Dani coughs. The acrid smell of burnt metal is almost overpowering. "Is it over?" she says after a long moment. "Is it dead?"

Grace stumbles a few feet closer to the remains. "It's dead," she finally confirms, turning to face Dani with a weary smile. "It's dead, Dani." And then she collapses in a slow motion slide, as if saying the words had cut her power as well.

"Grace!" Dani lunges to catch her before she can hit the ground, but her weight takes the both down, and she ends up falling back on her haunches with Grace leaning hard against her.

"M'okay," Grace mumbles. "Just used a lot of energy." But she's shaking noticeably now, and as Dani looks down, she can see Grace is bleeding through her shirt around the area of her surgical incision. She must have torn it open during the fight.

"Just hang on, okay?" Dani says, cradling Grace in her arms. Her whole body feels hot. "We've still got a future to save, remember? You can't quit on me now."

"Dani..." Grace whispers, and then her eyes slide closed. For a moment, Dani's heart feels like it stops in her chest.

Then Sarah is there, her hand on Grace's pulse. "She's still breathing," she says, and Dani can breath again too. In the distance, a siren begins to wail. Sarah swears. "We've gotta move. This place is about to get a lot more crowded."

Right. One problem at a time. Dani can handle that: escape the plant, avoid the cops, get Grace more meds, save humanity from killer robots.

The two of them manage to lever Grace off the floor, slinging her arms around their shoulders. Her eyes flutter, but she remains a limp, heavy weight as they start moving toward where Carl is lying half propped against the wall.

"Carl," Dani calls, grunting with effort. "We've got to go."

Carl's body is a wreck, chunks of flesh torn off to reveal the metal chassis underneath. His gleaming red eye meets her gaze steadily, though.

"This body is too damaged too go on, and I have no means of repairing it," he says in the same deadpan tone as he'd offered them a beer. "You must remove my CPU now. Use it to infect Legion. I have already prepared the necessary code." 

Dani startles. "Your family—" she protests.

He shakes his head. "They know I cannot return to them. But I can still protect them." He turns to Sarah. "There's an access port on the top of my head—"

"I know how to do it," she says.

"The locking cylinders have already been damaged. You should be able to open it quickly."

Sarah shoots Dani a look, and then transfers Grace's full weight to her. Dani stumbles, but manages to remain standing. Grace lets out a little moan, her head lolling against Dani's shoulder. She's panting softly. Overheating, Dani thinks.

Sarah pulls a knife from her vest and cuts into the remaining skin on top of Carl's head, revealing a circular port. It looks charred and bent. With a twist of her wrist, the top pops off, and she reaches inside to pull out a cylindrical tube, dropping it on the floor.

"You can now access the CPU," Carl says.

"Yes." Sarah says. The sirens are getting louder. But still she seems to hesitate.

"You must plug it directly into Legion's mainframe. Grace will know how."

"Carl." Dani meets his eyes. "Thank you."

He nods at her, then looks at Sarah. "For John," he says simply, and then his face goes completely blank. 

Sarah pulls her hand out of his head gripping a large, red chip. It's bigger than Dani would have expected, but then none of the chips she'd ever seen before contained their own consciousness.

"Right," Sarah says, staring at Carl's body with an unreadable look on her face. Then she visibly shakes it off, tucking the chip into one of the pockets in her vest and pulling one of Grace's arms over her shoulder again. "Let's get out of here."

### no fate

There's a small fleet of emergency vehicles converging on the power plant by the time they get outside. Sarah hotwires a car while Dani hauls Grace into the back seat, and they take off just in time to pass the first cop car going the other way, followed by a string of fire trucks and ambulances. Dani twists to watch them, holding her breath. But the other vehicles ignore them completely.

"Carl's body, the Rev-9," she says, turning back around as their lights fade in the distance. "What will happen when they find them?"

Sarah shakes her head. "Nothing good, but we can't help that now." She pats the pocket on her chest where Carl's chip is safely stashed. "We just have to stick to the plan and hope it doesn't matter."

Grace is stretched out across the back seat, her head in Dani's lap, legs bent awkwardly in the too small space. Her hair feels damp with sweat as Dani absently runs her hand through it, and she feels a strange sort of déjà vu. They need to cool her down and soon.

"Sarah, she's burning up."

"We've gotta put some distance between us and that mess back there." Sarah's voice is grim. "Keep your eyes peeled for a pharmacy."

Dani holds onto Grace and says a prayer under her breath they won't be too late. She can't lose Grace now, not after everything they've been through to survive the last few days.

But after a few miles, a Walmart appears, parking lot lit up like a beacon. 

"Gracias a Dios," Dani murmurs, closing her eyes in relief.

"God has nothing to do with 24 hour Walmart," Sarah says, parking and stripping off her tactical vest. She fingers a hole in the sleeve of her tattered and bloody shirt, then peers at her face in the mirror. "Jesus, I look like a junkie."

There's a man's jacket in the back seat. "Here," Dani says, and passes it over. 

Sarah slips it on. It hangs loose on her small frame, but it's still better than the alternative. After rubbing futilely at a bloody scrape on her cheek, she tells Dani, "Well, here goes nothing. If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, take her and run."

Dani swallows hard, but nods. "We need bandages too."

"On it."

Dani watches anxiously as Sarah goes inside. _Fifteen minutes_. Without a phone, she has no way of telling how much time is passing, so she starts silently counting seconds.

"Dani," Grace breathes, breaking her concentration. Her voice is barely audible, but still the most beautiful thing Dani's heard.

"Grace?" Dani cups her face in her palm. "Just hang on, okay? Sarah's going to get your meds now. You're going to be all right." Grace doesn't respond—Dani doesn't think she's really awake—but her face leans into Dani's touch. "It's going to be all right," Dani repeats, willing it to be true. 

They sit like that until a knock on the window startles Dani back into the real world. Her heart jumps into her throat, but it's only Sarah, holding two plastic bags.

She hurriedly unlocks the door and Sarah slides inside, handing her one of the bags over the front seat. "I got insulin. It was all I could get over the counter. There's some stuff for basic first aid too."

Dani pulls out the vial of insulin and quickly readies an injection as Sarah pulls out of the parking lot. She still doesn't know how much she should give her—that was a conversation they were definitely going to have once Grace was awake—but she makes her best guess and sticks the needle into Grace's thigh, hoping it's enough.

It has to be enough. 

* * *

They drive for as long as they can until Sarah needs a break. Dani could probably take over if she had to, but she'd rather not survive a terminator only to kill them all in a car wreck with her inexperienced driving.

Dawn is creeping over the horizon when they pull into a cheap motel. Grace is still out, but she seems cooler. Sarah helps Dani carry her in, and then disappears into the bathroom. Dani collapses onto the bed beside Grace, feeling more exhausted than she thinks she's ever been in her life. 

She only means to close her eyes for a second, but when she opens them again, there's midday sun shining through the thin motel curtains. Sarah's a dark, softly snoring lump on the next bed. Dani turns her head the other way and finds Grace propped up on one elbow, watching her.

"Good morning," she says softly.

Dani smiles back at her. "Hi," she says, voice just as low. Then her brain finishes waking up and she sits up straight. "Grace! You're awake! And you're all right—are you all right?"

One of her hands has reached out instinctively, and is now fluttering uselessly above Grace's hastily rebandaged stomach. She starts to pull it back, but Grace grabs it, lightning quick, and gives it a comforting squeeze.

"I'm all right, Dani. I'm sorry I scared you. "

"You scared the crap out of me," Dani says, squeezing back. "Don't do that again."

"No ma'am," Grace promises, a small smile on her face despite the solemn words, and Dani feels a strange shiver of heat in the pit of her stomach.

Grace glances around the room. "Carl?"

Dani shakes her head, and Grace's face falls. "We have his CPU. He said you'd know what to do with it. "

Grace nods slowly. "Yes, I think so, if I can get close enough to the mainframe. I should be able to connect them long enough for Carl's consciousness to transfer."

"Amazing," Dani says lightly, but only half teasing. "Is there anything you can't do?"

Grace cocks her head and leans closer. "I never really learned to cook," she says conspiratorially. 

"Lucky for you, I am an excellent cook. Wait until you try my tamales. I've been told they're to die for." 

Diego had said that. He loved tamale weekends. That's one more thing they'll never share again, and she feels a stab of grief, then forcibly shoves that sadness back down. She can't think about Diego or her father now. Not until the job is done.

Grace makes a soft humming noise in the back of her throat. "I can't wait."

"Grace, welcome back," Sarah's voice drifts over from the other bed, somehow even drier and rustier than usual. "If you two are finished flirting over there, this old lady needs her beauty sleep."

Dani's face heats. Is that what she was doing? If it was so obvious to Sarah, had Grace seen it too?

"Sorry, Sarah," she says, much quieter. "I should shower," she tells Grace, not meeting her gaze. Which is true—she stinks of blood, river water, and dried sweat. But mainly she needs a moment to herself. "Get some more rest, okay?"

She feels Grace's eyes following her as she leaves the room.

* * *

The shower is small and the water pressure is terrible, but it's hot and feels amazing on her aching muscles. Every part of her body is sore, but at least now she's clean and dry. It turns out Sarah grabbed a few clean t-shirts and a pack of underwear at the store the night before, so by the time Dani leaves the bathroom, she feels marginally human again.

Grace wordlessly takes her turn in the shower, and by the time she's out, Sarah is up as well, despite her earlier complaining.

The rest of the day passes slowly. Sarah sends an encrypted message to Major Dean, then dispatches Grace to go ditch last night's stolen car and use more of their rapidly depleting funds to pick up some food while they wait for a response.

Given the Major had been shot the last time they saw him, there's no telling if he'll be able to help them, much less willing. But he's the best hope they have of infiltrating the NORAD facility. 

By the time night falls again, there's still been no reply, though. As they get ready for bed, Dani climbs back into bed beside Grace without a second thought, then hesitates, wondering if she ought to have asked. But Grace merely turns off the light. 

Dani lays still and silent in the dark, the soft shuffles of Sarah settling in the other bed the only sound. After a moment, there's movement beside her, and Grace's arm wraps casually around her waist. Dani lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and relaxes into the loose embrace. 

She falls asleep with Grace curled around her like a question mark, feeling safer and more secure than she has since this whole ordeal began.

* * *

It takes the Major a week to respond.

"Do you understand the size of the shit pile you have dropped me in?" he demands when they finally meet. He's moving stiffly, but seems to be recovering well. "Four airmen killed, three planes destroyed. Millions in damage at the dam. I'll be lucky if I'm not locked in Leavenworth by the time this inquiry is over, and even luckier if I still have a job at all."

"You've seen the damage just one of those things can do," Grace says without sympathy. "Imagine an entire army of them. That's what humanity's going to face if you don't help us."

He eyes her for a long moment and then sighs. "What do you need?"

"Not much," Sarah says. "Just credentials that will get us access to a top secret project at NORAD."

The Major stares at her. "Oh, is that all?"

"Well, I could use some money, too. Funds are getting a little tight." 

"Of course you could!" He throws up his undamaged arm in exasperation.

He's going to help them, Dani can see it in his eyes. He just needs a little push.

"Major," she says. "I'm sorry about your men. But that thing only exists because we made it. And now we have the opportunity to stop it before it does any more damage. But we have to work together. And we need your help."

The Major stares at her, assessing. "All right," he says finally. "Tell me everything."

* * *

"I still think I should be going with you," Dani says, watching Grace do up the buttons on her borrowed Air Force uniform. The dark blue is flattering on her, but the thick material looks strange and formal. Like she's changing into a different person in front of Dani's eyes. 

"And I still think that I can move faster on my own."

It's an argument they've been having continuously for the last month, but walking through the familiar beats is a soothing distraction from thinking about all the things that could go wrong when Grace enters the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

"Besides," Grace continues, "we can't afford any chance of you being caught. If this doesn't work—"

"It will." She won't accept any other outcome. Won't let all the suffering and the death have been for nothing.

"—if Legion still goes rogue, then you need to be free. Everything depends on that, Dani." Grace finishes buttoning her uniform jacket and carefully puts on a matching blue cap. She turns to Dani. "Well? How do I look?"

"Hmm. Very professional. There's just one thing…" Dani reaches over and straightens her Captain's insignia, smoothing her hands down the sides of the uniform. "There."

She expects Grace to step back, but instead she stills, gazing down at Dani with a curious intensity.

"Dani, if something happens—"

"No." Dani shakes her head. "I'm not going there."

"Dani—"

"If you get caught, then we'll come for you," she says fiercely. "If Carl's virus doesn't take, then we'll think of another way to take Legion down. Those are the only options."

Grace's face softens. "I was going to say, if something goes wrong, don't do anything foolish. I'll find my way back to you, one way or another."

"Oh," Dani swallows. "Right."

"Grace, it's showtime," Sarah says from the doorway, interrupting the moment.

"Right." Grace straightens and heads for the door, turning at the last moment. "I'll see you in a couple hours, okay?"

"A couple hours," Dani repeats.

And then she's gone.

Sarah takes one look at Dani and grabs her keys. "Come on," she says. "You look like you could use a drink."

Dani snorts. "You mean you could use one."

She shrugs. "That too."

So Dani drinks cheap beer on their motel bed while Grace takes Carl's chip and her forged credentials and disappears into the belly of the beast. A couple hours pass. Then a half hour more. 

"I knew we shouldn't have let her go alone," she says to the ceiling as it creeps into the third hour. "Didn't I tell you?" Even though she's been drinking slowly, the alcohol's starting to spread a pleasant warmth through her body.

"You did," Sarah agrees from the other bed. "And the rest of us said that woman can bust her way out of any cell they throw her into."

Dani's getting ready to argue some more just for the sake of it when the door opens and Grace walks in. She's still wearing the uniform, but the cap's gone, collar loose, tie undone. She looks like herself. She looks _triumphant_.

Dani sits up too fast and the room spins a little. 

"Well?" Sarah says, and though she's trying to sound dispassionate, Dani can tell she's just as eager as Dani is.

"It's done." Grace grins. "Carl's a part of Legion now."

Dani whoops and runs across the room. Grace meets her halfway, picking her up and swinging her around. The combination of the beer and the feel of Grace pressed tight against her is enough to set her head really spinning, and she stumbles a bit, laughing, as Grace finally sets her down. Grace steadies her, still smiling.

"It's really done?" Dani confirms, just to hear her say it again.

"It's done, Dani." Grace grabs one of the remaining beers, popping the cap with one hand, and Dani loses a few seconds to dreamy contemplation of that casual display of strength. "Now we just have to wait."

Dani blinks, trying to pull her focus back to the present. "How will we know it worked?" 

Sarah tosses back a shot. "When the world doesn't end."

That's almost enough to sober her up, all on its own.

* * *

Even if Legion has been neutralized, they still need to be prepared. 

Grace is worried other terminators from either Sarah's original future or her own will show up, and badgers the Major for extra EMPs for their arsenal. After scavenging Carl's cabin, they have the equipment he was using to track chronal displacement, so at least they'll have warning when and if something else comes through. But that also requires a home base. 

With 'judgment day'—as Sarah insists on calling it—less than a year out, she takes them off the grid up to a cabin in Montana that belonged to some old comrade in arms. There, she and Grace take turns teaching Dani all their considerable combined survival skills. Which, more often than not, involves the both of them taking turns wiping the floor with her in hand-to-hand combat.

Today, it's Grace's turn to lead sparring practice while Sarah sits nearby, occasionally calling out suggestions in the form of caustic jabs.

"Good job. Definitely keep doing that if you want your neck to get snapped immediately," she says as Dani messes up the complicated move Grace has been trying to teach her for the third time.

Dani shoots her a glare, breathing heavily. 

"You almost had it," Grace tells her, which seems generous. The Dani Grace knew in the future probably wouldn't have had any problem with this, she thinks, not for the first time. Hell, that Dani probably taught Grace this move in the first place. She's never said anything, but Dani wonders how much of a disappointment she must be in contrast. 

"Let's switch gears for a bit," Graces says after an assessing look, which only makes Dani feel her inadequacy more keenly. "Lie on your back."

Once Dani's on the ground, Grace climbs on top of her, resting her hands lightly on Dani's throat. Her pulse immediately speeds up. 

"Grab my wrists," Grace instructs. "That will relieve the pressure. Now cross your legs behind my back—try to squeeze my ribs."

Dani swallows and follows the instructions. Grace is basically lying on top of her now, a warm weight between Dani's legs. _Focus_ , she tells herself sternly. 

"Good. Now move your grip to my opposite forearms. Push down, just like—that's it," Grace says. If she's affected by the intimacy of their position at all, she's not showing it. "Keep holding my arms, and move your legs so you can cross your ankles around the back of my neck."

Dani takes a deep breath and hitches her legs up, forcing Grace's head down. Now they're pressed even closer.

"Pinch your knees and raise your hips," Grace says, and Dani obeys. Is it her imagination, or is Grace breathing a little hard now too? _This isn't sexy_ , she reminds herself. _This is a person trying to kill you_. "There," Grace continues. "If you do that hard enough, you'll break my arms."

Dani nods, and rocks her hips up, using her arm hold as leverage. There's a warm heat spreading through her as she meets Grace's eyes.

"For fuck's sake," Sarah mutters in the background, and walks off.

"All right, good," Grace says. Is her voice a little husky? "I think that's it for today." She taps one of her hands where it's still resting trapped against Dani's chest, and Dani reluctantly releases her. "I'm just gonna go—" she gestures vaguely at the treeline. "—walk the perimeter before lunch."

"Do you want company?" Dani offers.

"No. You go wash up," Grace says with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. She holds out a hand and pulls Dani upright like it's effortless. "I won't be long." She takes off at a jog that Dani wouldn't be able to keep up with for long. Dani watches until she disappears into the trees and then heads back up to the small cabin they've made their home.

Sarah's inside, facing the window with a bottle of whisky in her hand. "A little early for that, isn't it?" Dani says. "Even for you."

Sarah takes a swig instead of answering, and Dani shrugs to herself. The subject of Sarah's drinking is a delicate one that they're going to have to address at some point. But not without some planning and back up. With only one bedroom, the cabin is close quarters, and they've all had to get used to overlooking certain habits and foibles that get on each other's nerves. Dani suspects it's hardest on Sarah, who was alone for so long. From the stories she tells, Grace was used to living in close quarters with much fewer creature comforts in the future, and Dani grew up sharing a room with her brother as children, then living in a small apartment as adults. She likes having family close.

She takes off her boots and leaves them by the door, about to head to the bedroom to strip her sweaty workout clothes when Sarah breaks the silence. 

"John's father was from the future. John sent him back to protect me, knowing that he would die."

Dani turns, mouth parting in surprise. She rarely mentions John—it's too raw for her still, Dani thinks. And she's never talked about his father before that Dani can remember, although she told them a soldier from the future helped her survive the first terminator sent to kill her. But all she said about him was he had died.

Sarah laughs, still facing the window. It's a bitter, humorless sound. "When he met his father for the first time, he was older than him. Can you imagine how strange that must have been?"

Dani can imagine it, actually. Has, in fact, spent a significant amount of time imagining just what it might be like to stumble across a young teenage Grace in the ruins of the world.

"I used to think that sending him back must've been a hard choice."

Dani raises an eyebrow. "And now?" she prompts, when the silence stretches too long.

Sarah sighs and takes another drink. "Now I know what it's like to spend a life full of nothing but death and regrets." She finally turns, looking Dani in the eye. "I think he wasn't just sending him back to die. He was sending him back to live, even if only for a day. He wanted his father to know some joy."

Dani's breath catches. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because if I've learned anything, it's that you have to take your happiness where you can. Grab it with both hands and don't let go. You never know when it will end." She pointed the bottle at Dani. "In other words, Daniela, I don't know what the fuck is holding you back, but whatever it is? _Get over it_."

Dani feels taken aback, split open and skewered without warning. "I—" she manages in an unsteady voice when the cabin door opens and Grace comes in.

In the ensuing silence, she glances curiously back and forth between. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Going on a supply run," Sarah says, not looking away from Dani. "Don't wait up." She grabs her jacket and stalks out the door.

"What's the matter with her?"

Dani takes a shaky breath. Doesn't answer. She can't just… go for it. Can she? Could it really be that easy?

"Dani? Okay, now you're starting to scare me." Grace is standing in front of her now, face twisted with concern. "Did you and Sarah have a fight?"

"Grace," Dani says, then stops. Putting everything she feels into words seems impossible. _Moment of truth_. She slides her arms behind Grace's neck and stretches up on her tiptoes. Grace goes completely still as their lips meet. She smells of grass and sweat and her lips are warm and full under Dani's.

After a moment, Dani steps back, breathing more heavily than a kiss that chaste probably deserves. Her heart feels like it's about to thump out of her chest.

Grace is staring at her wide eyed and stunned. "Dani, what..."

Dani takes a deep breath. "If you don't feel the same way, I understand. But you should know I'm in love with you." Somehow, just saying the words feels like a great weight has lifted off of her. She gives Grace a wobbly smile. "It doesn't have to change anything—"

Before she can finish the sentence, Grace is surging forward, bending down to capture Dani's lips in a bruising kiss. This is no chaste lip brush. Grace is _plundering_ her mouth, and Dani moans and gives back as good as she gets. After a moment, Grace makes a disgruntled sound and hitches Dani up until their faces are level, Dani's legs curled around her waist, back pushed against the wall.

"I'm not her, you know," Dani says, panting a bit as their lips finally part. "I'm not the Dani you knew."

"I know. I never did this with her, " Grace says, and kisses her again.

They make out lazily against the wall until Dani's legs start to ache from the strain. Grace could probably hold her up indefinitely, a thought that makes her feel all sorts of things, but Dani is still only human. "Bed," she gasps, then: "I mean, if you want…"

"Oh, I want," Grace promises with heat, and proceeds to carry Dani into the bedroom, dropping her with a soft bounce on the bed.

She kicks off her boots and strips her clothes in smooth, efficient movements. They've undressed in front of each other before; it's impossible not to see things in such tight quarters, but Dani's always tried to be respectful. Now she lets herself look her fill, dragging her eyes up Grace's body, taking in the patchwork of lean muscle and fading scars.

Her breasts are small but firm, and Dani's mouth waters at the thought of tasting them, of tasting her all over. "Come here," she says, and Grace obeys, crawling over the bed until she's braced above Dani. "You're so beautiful," Dani whispers, overcome for a moment.

"You're wearing too many clothes," Grace says, and pulls her arms up with one hand, tugging her shirt and sports bra off with the other. Dani blows her suddenly messy hair out of her face with an amused huff and lifts her hips so Grace can shimmy her out of her leggings. "That's better," Grace says, taking a moment to admire her handiwork. 

Dani feels goosebumps raise all over her body, her nipples hardening instantly under the intensity of Grace's gaze. She curls a leg around Grace's waist, dragging her body down flush on top of hers—a echo of their earlier sparring position—and then they're kissing again, wet and deep. Grace's chest brushes hers and they both moan a little at the contact.

A thought penetrates the haze of lust. "Grace, wait," she says, pulling away just far enough to speak. "Have you ever, you know. Done this before?" Grace has never mentioned anything about anyone special she might have left behind in the future, and Dani's certainly never seen her express any interest in anyone here in the present.

Grace makes a humming sound. "A few times. Never with anyone I—you don't want to get too close to people. Just makes it harder later." When they're killed, she means, and Dani feels a stab of sympathetic loneliness for younger Grace, desperate not to care for anyone she might lose.

Dani pulls her down for another kiss. "Well, I'm not going anywhere," she promises. "I'm going to stay by your side until you're sick of me."

"Never," Grace promises, and slides a hand into Dani's underwear, slipping one long finger inside of her, where Dani's already embarrassingly wet.

Dani gasps, hips flexing, and Grace licks into her mouth mirroring the pace of her finger, pulsing slowly in and out. She feels caught, suspended in this moment, drunk on Grace's touch after so long yearning for it silently in the dark. 

"I've wanted to do this for so long," Grace whispers against her lips, as if reading her mind. "Dani, you have no idea." Then she's moving down Dani's body, pulling her underwear off and burying her face in Dani's cunt in one smooth motion.

"Oh, god!" Dani cries, body clenching at the feel of Grace's mouth on her. Her hips buck involuntarily, and Grace grips them tightly, holding them down as she licks inside. Dani fists one of her hands in Grace's short hair and bites down on the other one to stifle a scream.

"Mmm, no. I want to hear you," Grace says, pulling her arm down.

"I can't—" Dani babbles. "Grace, I can't, I need—" She feels wild, out of control, almost. 

Grace stretches back up until their faces are level, and Dani wraps her arms around her, dropping sloppy kisses on all the bits of skin she can reach, shoulder, neck, cheek and finally mouth again, tasting herself on Grace's lips, musky and wet.

"What, Dani? What do you need?" Grace murmurs, but Dani can't speak, doesn't even know what she's asking for. Grace rubs Dani's nipple roughly between two calloused fingers, then bends to take it in her mouth, Dani squirming and gasping beneath her. "What do you need, Dani?"

"Need you," Dani begs, panting. "Inside, Grace. Please." 

Grace grins and sits up, effortlessly pulling Dani with her and flipping her so her back is resting against Grace's chest. She slides her hands up Dani's front, palming her breasts. "Stay still," she whispers in Dani's ear, and then she moves away, leaving Dani heated and bare, kneeling on the bed. She rests her hands on her thighs and takes a long, steadying breath. From behind her, there are ripping sounds, and then suddenly Grace is back. 

She reaches around Dani to take both her wrists in one hand, holding out the other with a strip of black cloth. The remains of Grace's tank top, Dani realizes in a rush, and feels another rush of heat down her center. 

"All right?" Grace asks, leaning forward to look at her face, and Dani nods fervently, head brushing against hers.

"Yes," she manages after a moment, when Grace seems to need more. "Please."

Grace ties the fabric around her wrists in quick, practiced movements. "Not too tight?" she asks, and Dani shakes head. The ties are loose enough that she could probably wiggle out of them if she wanted, but tight enough to keep her where they both want her to be.

Grace nods, and pulls her back against her chest, leaving one big hand pressed against Dani's belly while the other pulls her bound arms up and over the back of Grace's head. Dani sits up straighter, back arching. Grace nudges her legs apart and Dani takes a sharp breath, shockingly aroused at the feeling of being so exposed. 

"All right?" Grace asks again.

Dani groans. "Yes..."

The hand on Dani's belly drifts down to rub at Dani's clit, and Dani squirms, biting her lip, needing just a little bit more—

"I wish we had a mirror," Grace murmurs, dropping a kiss onto Dani's neck. "You're so gorgeous like this." Then she slides two fingers inside Dani, and the sudden pressure filling her where she was empty and aching is almost too much right there. Dani gasps and grinds her ass back into Grace, bound hands twisting against each other where they're still held above Grace's head.

Grace sucks and nips at Dani's collarbone, fingers pumping rhythmically in her cunt while the heel of her palm grinds against Dani's clit. "Can you stay?" she asks, and it takes Dani a few seconds to realize what she means. She nods, head lolling against Grace's shoulder as Grace lets go of her hands and reaches down to cup one of her breasts instead, twisting her nipple in time with the thrust of her fingers. Dani bends her elbows and arches up, determined not to stay where Grace has placed her. 

Grace is moving with her now, both of their bodies rolling to the pulsing tempo of Grace's fingers. Dani finds herself making breathy little high pitched sounds, completely trapped and at Grace's mercy.

"That's it, let me hear you," Grace whispers, sounding satisfyingly out of breath. 

With her hands bound, Dani has no choice but to let out every moan and gasp as Grace winds her tighter and tighter, a fevered pitch that finally breaks when Dani surrenders to the pressure and comes in a long shattering burst, thrashing and wailing while Grace fucks her through it, pressing hard on her clit. It's too much—her arms finally lift up and over Grace's neck with a cry, and Grace rides her down face first onto the bed, fingers still buried in Dani's aching, fluttering cunt.

"Oh my god," Dani says after a moment, breath heaving. Her voice sounds wrecked even to her own ears. Grace is rubbing restlessly, grinding herself on the back of Dani's thigh, but she rolls off of Dani when she finally gets her breath back enough to move, and gently undoes the ties on Dani's wrists.

Dani's body is slick with sweat and pleasantly wrung out. "Grace, that was…" she trails off, at a loss for words. She can't remember the last time she felt so well used and satisfied.

"Good?" Grace asks. She looks almost as wrecked as Dani feels, face flushed and hair a little wild.

Dani laughs, turning so they're lying facing each other. "You're kidding, right? You know that was amazing." She runs a hand down Grace's flank and gives her flat, white girl ass a fond squeeze.

Grace shivers, and kisses Dani a little desperately. "I'm so close," she gasps. "Touch me, please, just—"

Her legs fall open, and Dani slides her thigh between them, letting Grace rut against her, hand still kneading her ass. At this angle, Grace's pert breasts are enticingly close, and Dani takes advantage, leaning forward to take one nipple into her mouth, and then the other, sucking and biting gently, then soothing them with tongue. 

Grace is starting to lose her rhythm, grinding frantically, her breath coming in great, heaving gasps. "Dani!" she finally cries, and shudders all over, burying her face in Dani's throat and rubbing sticky wetness all over Dani's thigh.

Dani hugs her close, stroking her hand up and down Grace's back, laying gentle kisses on her temple until her breathing calms.

"Wow," Grace says.

"Yeah," Dani agrees. "We're pretty good at that."

Grace rolls onto her back and Dani rests her head on her chest, their legs tangling together. It feels wildly luxurious to be laying naked like this. The door to the bedroom is still open, neither of them having had the presence of mind to close it earlier. But the nearest town is two hours away, which means Sarah will be gone for at least four or five. More, if her pointed look to Dani meant what she thought it did. They have time.

Grace idly plays with Dani's hair, and Dani almost dozes for a few minutes. "I've wanted this for a long time, too, you know," she murmurs. "I just didn't think that you would ever want the same thing."

She can feel Grace staring at her, but doesn't lift her head. "Then you're a dummy," Grace says, and kisses the top of her head. 

"This isn't weird for you?" Dani wonders. "That I practically raised you in the future?"

Grace freezes, then sits up on one elbow. "You're not my mother, Dani. I had a mother." She tips Dani's chin up, forcing her to meet her eyes. "You saved me, you taught me. But you're not my mother." She takes a deep breath, then smiles tremulously. "You're my everything. You know, in case there was any question."

What can Dani do after that except kiss her again?

* * *

When she gets back that night, Sarah takes one look at them and is insufferably smug for the next week.

* * *

September approaches rapidly, and Grace grows more tense and short tempered the closer they get. 

On the day the world ended in the original timeline—or the second timeline, if Sarah's was the actual first—Dani takes her on a hike to a remote meadow they discovered over the summer. The air is crisp, but warm in the sun, and they have sex on a blanket next to a bubbling spring, then wash off in the cold water, Dani shrieking a little as she gets in. Grace wraps her in the blanket after, and they sit until the air starts to get colder, then walk back slowly.

Sarah has the local public radio station on, a BBC reporter talking about a new tax bill in the UK, and the upcoming Gambian elections.

"All quiet," she says, and hands them both a beer. 

It stays quiet for the rest of the night, and the next day, and then the next week. Every month that passes with Judgment Day still not happening, the tension in Grace's shoulders loosens a bit more, Sarah drinks a little less. 

And Dani feels like she can finally, finally breathe freely again.

"Hey," she says one night, six months after the world failed to end. It's late March, and the mountain passes are open again, wild flowers just starting to bloom all over their meadow. Dani and Sarah look up from preparing the fish they'd caught for dinner. "You feel like taking a trip?"

* * *

"Grace!" her father calls, and two blonde heads turn in unison. The younger version goes running to catch up. Adult Grace stays at the picnic table at the edge of the park where she's been watching her family play frisbee for the last hour.

"He died a week ago," she says, with a look of longing wonder. "For a stupid can of peaches. I couldn't do anything but watch."

Dani squeezes her hand. "You saved him, Grace. You saved all of them."

"We did." She looks at Sarah, sitting on Dani's other side "All of us."

"Yeah, okay," Sarah says. "Don't go getting all sappy on me now." But she doesn't object when Dani slings her arms around both of their shoulders.

"Come on, chicas," Dani says. "Let's go home."

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Yuletide, Wildgoosery! I love this movie and these characters so much, and I've wanted to write a fix-it for them since the first time I watched it. Thanks for giving me the opportunity!
> 
> Title inspired by [Devuélvete by Carla Morrison](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3y2y_bXZI0), which is honestly a great soundtrack for pining lesbians.


End file.
